The Landcruiser 80 Series is perhaps the best all round 4X4 you can get and is still legendary in terms of popularity. It has the perfect combination of comfort, size, off road ability and respectability, what I love about mine is that the whole week its a neat, clean, respectable looking mode of transport to the office and around home and over the weekend it becomes a beast which goes anywhere off road, looks equally good in the Sheraton parking lot or in the depths of Baluchistan,
I purchased mine from a wonderful friend in Bahawalpur and drove it right back to Karachi almost 1000 km non-stop (only stopping for calls of nature and once for lunch) and that drive was on horrible horrible tires but it gave me no trouble at all, Ive owned a lot of jeeps and 1000 km in one go is something I would never be able to do from exhaustion but this thing was great,
most of my friends think I'm crazy coz it's too large but you really get used to the size and it stops bothering you, it has an excellent stance and driving position, EXTREMELY reliable, my family for the time ever has liked any of my jeeps and its the vehcile of choice for airport trips during the wedding season, with the woofer and speaker box in the rear I can still fit in 6 full sized suit cases standing vertically in the boot.
The 4.2 deisel is great too, I have the 1HZ and its far more economical than my previous vehicles some of which included the 2.8TD Pajero, B-13T, B-3, 1KZ and consuption in money terms is actually slightly better if not equivalent to my first jeep which was an M-13A,
Most the suspensions are saggy from age, so when you do buy one go for a new suspension, I went for a Old Man Emu with 2" lift from ARB and I changed the tires to BF Goodrich and rims to Centerline, these initial expenses are substantial but provided you get one with a good engine, thats about all you'll need to spend although I spent a lot more on various accessories but thats a different story,
dont worry too much about the body as long as its original and does have any major repairs, everything else can be sorted out, interior can be entirely re-upholsetred so thats not a big deal too, just watch out for the engine and transmission... Also I have the GXR, people say the 24Valve VX and VX-L is a lot more thirsty so check that claim out, Im attaching some pics of some of the good times we're had...
